Tag: Stapleford

Cross purposes?

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Stone south of Wirksworth at SK299521

Derbyshire has plenty of stone, as shown by its characteristic dry-stone walls, and walkers may find pillars of stone, like the example above, set in the landscape for no apparent reason. Impossible to date, and clearly not redundant gateposts, they can only be assumed to mark some long-lost route. In other places there does seem to be a link to an old track, as with the large stone below, less than a mile above Wirksworth on the Brassington road, on the line of the Portway.

Again, it’s impossible to date a megalith like this, but clearly a lot of trouble was taken to erect what must have been a route marker. Given that many stones like these have been re-used for building, and others deliberately destroyed as symbols of paganism, we can imagine a prehistoric landscape well populated with such pillars. Surviving stone circles reinforce the idea of stones having power and importance, and this may have continued into the early Christian period, from about 600 CE.

Cross in Bradbourne churchyard

Presumably the first Christian missionaries set up ‘crosses’ like this example in Bradbourne as symbols of the new beliefs; although badly worn a crucifixion scene can be found near the base. Similar crosses can be seen at Bakewell church (found on Beeley Moor) and Stapleford, on the Portway in Nottinghamshire. Although referred to as crosses they are actually simple carved pillars, which suggests an attempt to Christianize a pagan symbol.

Stapleford Cross, with scrollwork and saint.

Both of these monuments are thought to date from the ninth century, far older than the church they adjoin. The cross was only adopted as a Christian symbol in 692 CE, and one of the earliest examples of the ‘new’ pattern can be seen at Eyam churchyard (part of the shaft appears to be missing). It is always possible that these crosses were moved into the churchyards at some point, and they may originally have been route markers.

Celtic scrollwork at Eyam

In Medieval Britain crosses became more common and varied: wayside crosses, boundary crosses, market crosses and later, memorial crosses. In some cases they may have had the dual role of showing the way and indicating the next pilgrim shrine; this cross base at Cross Lane near Dethick seems to mark a route that extended south to Shuckstone Cross, only a mile away, and beyond. These (now lost) crosses would have protected travellers as well as guiding them to the holy places.

Cross base near Dethick with anti-theft device

See: Sharpe, N. ( 2002) Crosses of the Peak District, Landmark

Hemlocked

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The Hemlock Stone

The Hemlock Stone on Stapleford Hill west of Nottingham is a sandstone pillar about five metres high, set in parkland. The name suggests that it may have acted as a boundary marker between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and it is found near the Portway’s crossing of the Erewash (the county boundary). It seems to have had more significance in the past, with eighteenth-century references to its use for Beltane celebrations, and was famous enough for DH Lawrence to include it in Sons and Lovers as the destination for an Easter walk.

A barefoot Lawrence at the University of Nottingham

The walk from Eastwood to the Hemlock Stone had actually taken place in 1905, organised by Lawrence for his family and friends. Beginning in the town, the original route is now difficult to follow due to the construction of the A610 on the line of the old railway, but the walking party first crossed the semi-derelict Nottingham Canal, then the Erewash, and thirdly the Erewash Canal, soon coming to a footbridge over the Midland mainline railway, whose express trains linked Eastwood and Langley Mill to London. The party next joined the Heanor-Ilkeston road and followed this through Ilkeston, a town Lawrence knew from his teacher training. Their route then turned towards Stapleford: today mostly built up but following pleasant country lanes a hundred years ago. It is interesting that the Stone was seen as a significant destination, worth a fourteen-mile walk (at least), and was clearly a popular spot:

‘Everywhere in the field below, factory girls and lads were eating lunch or sporting about’.

Jessie Chambers, the model for Miriam Leivers

In the novel the importance of this walk is the emerging love between the hero, Paul Morel, and Miriam, the girl from Haggs Farm (a thinly-disguised Lawrence and Jessie Chambers). Both felt rather alienated from the rest of the party, who were inclined to climb the Stone and carve their names there. On the way home they both fell behind the others, Lawrence struggling to repair an umbrella, and their mutual sympathy developed into a complicated affair which dominates the first half of Sons and Lovers and has become a classic of teenage angst.